WHAT/WHO: Mayor Vincent C. Gray will join members of the District’s transgender and gender-non-conforming communities to launch the D.C. Office of Human Rights’ (OHR) groundbreaking gender-identity-rights campaign and unveil five advertisements featuring community members. The citywide campaign aims to promote awareness of, and understanding and respect for, the District’s transgender and gender-non-conforming communities; to reduce incidents of discrimination against members of these communities; and to increase reporting of instances of discrimination to OHR.

WHEN: Thursday, September 13, 2012, 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. (Campaign unveiling will begin at 7 p.m.)

WHERE: MOVA Lounge, 2204 14th Street NW

BACKGROUND: The OHR Transgender and Gender Identity Respect campaign will appear citywide this fall and is being hailed by advocates as the nation’s first government-sponsored campaign to focus exclusively on transgender and gender-non-conforming communities. Message development for the campaign included extensive outreach to the communities, both in the District and nationally. The campaign is part of a larger effort by Mayor Gray to ensure members of D.C.’s transgender community enjoy equal access to employment, housing and public accommodations; feel safe in their communities; and can trust that their rights  – guaranteed by some of the nation’s strongest anti-discrimination laws – are protected throughout the city.  Last year, Mayor Gray initiated Project Empowerment, a widely celebrated effort to train and increase employment among transgender residents. 

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Follow Mayor Gray on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/MayorVinceGray and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/DCGov

Follow the Gender Identity Campaign & DC Office of Human Rights on Facebook and Twitter!

Follow OHR on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/dcohr or on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dchumanrights.